From the millennia-old metropolises of the Middle East to ancient South American settlements, the world is dotted with cities that tell the story of civilisation itself. Pinning down a definitive list of the oldest is no easy feat, but we’ve rounded up those that stand out – each a living monument to the past. Some remain thriving cultural hubs, while others are best admired from afar due to safety concerns. Before planning a visit, be sure to check the latest travel advice.
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St Augustine, founded by the Spanish in September 1565, is the oldest continuously inhabited European-established city in what is now the US. Don Pedro Menéndez de Avilés named it after the feast day of St Augustine, which fell shortly after he first sighted the land.
Several historic sites remain today. Castillo de San Marcos (pictured) is the oldest masonry fort in the continental US, while Fort Mose Historic State Park marks the site of America’s first legally recognised free African settlement, established in 1738.
Charming Colchester is often considered the first capital of Roman Britain and boasts several impressive historical sites. These include Britain’s oldest Roman town wall, built around AD 65, the remains of a 2nd-century Roman circus, and an early Christian church.
However, Colchester’s importance predates Roman rule. Known as Camulodunum, it was a major Celtic settlement and tribal centre. While little of Colchester’s Iron Age heritage survives, the Lexden Earthworks – an ancient defensive structure – still stands as a remnant of Camulodunum’s early fortifications.
Cologne, one of Germany’s oldest major cities, was founded as a Roman colony in 38 BC and later named Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium after being elevated to the status of a Roman city in AD 50. The name was eventually shortened to Colonia, which evolved into Cologne.
Remains of Roman walls, forts and an ancient praetorium still dot the city. However, Cologne is most famous for its Gothic cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Construction on the 515-foot (157m) twin-spired cathedral began in 1248 and was only completed in 1880. Its darkened exterior is the result of centuries of weathering and soot from industrial pollution, giving it a striking, almost black appearance.
The rock-hewn city of Matera, perched on the edge of a steep ravine, is one of the longest continuously inhabited places on Earth. Its origins trace back to natural caves first occupied by humans during the Palaeolithic era, around 7,000 to 10,000 years ago.
Matera is best known for its ancient neighbourhoods, the Sassi di Matera, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. These cave dwellings, once simple shelters, gradually evolved into a complex cityscape with homes, churches and cisterns carved directly into the rock.
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Newfoundland and Labrador’s provincial capital is one of the oldest and most easterly cities in North America. It’s also said to be the oldest in Canada, with the first European explorer – John Cabot – thought to have arrived in 1497. Cabot Tower (pictured) was built to mark the 400th anniversary of his voyage.
The area was claimed by England in 1583, but didn’t grow into a permanent settlement until the early 17th century. Some of the oldest streets in the Americas knit St John’s together, and today it's a colourful and characterful maritime city.
Though still an infant compared to some of this list, Sydney is Australia’s oldest and largest city. Founded in 1788 as Sydney Cove, it became the country’s first non-Aboriginal settlement under Admiral Arthur Phillip – although evidence of Aboriginal settlement in the area dates back as far as 60,000 years.
Named after Britain’s home secretary, Sydney began as a convict colony before evolving into a thriving metropolis. Landmarks like the Australian Museum, St James Church and Hyde Park Barracks (pictured) are some of the city's oldest buildings that can still be seen today.
Thought by many to be the oldest continuously-inhabited city in South America, Quito is also the oldest of all the continent’s capitals. The Cara people are often credited with the foundation of the city, dated to roughly AD 980, though evidence of human presence goes back even further.
The city was conquered by the Inca Empire in the 15th century and then the Spanish in the 1530s. Much of the architecture in Quito’s UNESCO-inscribed old town (pictured) harks back to the colonial era.
With hunter-gatherer artefacts up to 13,000 years old found in the area, Chur has a strong claim to the title of Switzerland’s oldest town. Permanent settlements sprung up in the Bronze and Iron Ages, but Chur and the town rose in importance in AD 451, when it became the seat of a bishop.
One of the oldest buildings is St. Martin’s Church, originally constructed in the 8th century, though it was later rebuilt in a Gothic style. The car-free streets of Chur’s old town offer a peaceful setting to explore its well-preserved medieval heritage.
Home to the Great Pyramid of Cholula, the largest pyramid by volume anywhere in the world, Cholula is where several layers of Mesoamerican history converge. The city started as a major pre-Spanish settlement dedicated to Quetzalcoatl, a god typically depicted as a feathered serpent.
A temple once sat atop the Great Pyramid in the god's honour. Initially settled between AD 100 and 600, Cholula shows signs of a conflicted past, with colonial Spanish churches deliberately built over native temples.
Around two thousand years ago, Gyeongju became the capital of the Silla Kingdom, a role it held for nearly a millennium. By the 9th century it was at its height, with an estimated population of one million and about 180,000 homes – making it one of the world’s largest cities at the time.
Today, Gyeongju is home to many cultural treasures from its storied past, including Bulguksa Temple (pictured) and Cheomseongdae, the oldest surviving observatory in East Asia. It has since evolved into a modern industrial hub while preserving its rich heritage.
The Māori are believed to have arrived in Aotearoa (New Zealand) between AD 1200 and 1300, with the Bay of Plenty being one of the first areas they settled. According to local tradition, Whakatāne was founded by Tīwakawaka, a descendant of Māui, the demigod said to have fished New Zealand out of the sea.
Archaeological evidence, such as centuries-old skeletons and the remains of Tauwhare Pā, confirms that Whakatāne was an important Māori settlement long before European contact. However, the exact date of its founding remains uncertain.
Inhabited since 250 BC, Djenne is one of the oldest known urban settlements in sub-Saharan Africa. It was a thriving merchant city during ancient times and an important link in the trans-Saharan gold trade, before emerging as an important Islamic centre during the 15th and 16th centuries.
Its Grand Mosque (pictured) is the world’s largest mud-brick structure, built in 1907 to replace an older building probably constructed in the 13th century. The Old Towns of Djenne, a World Heritage Site, has been on UNESCO’s danger list since 2016.
Enns is widely recognised as Austria’s first chartered town, receiving its town charter in AD 1212. However, its history stretches back much further. Located near the confluence of the Enns and Danube rivers, it was once home to Lauriacum, a Roman military settlement established around AD 200 as part of the empire’s northern frontier.
Today, visitors are drawn to Enns for its charming Renaissance architecture, while those interested in its Roman past can explore artefacts and history at the Lauriacum Museum.
Sometimes called 'the town of a thousand windows', Berat is even older than its stacks of Ottoman houses (pictured) would seem to imply. The small city stands on the site of an earlier ancient Greek settlement that was founded in antiquity.
Named Antipatreia, it was established during the 3rd or 4th century. It formed part of the Roman and Byzantine empires and was also ruled by Bulgarians and Serbs before the Ottomans took over. Berat Castle, the Red Mosque and the Ethnographic Museum are must-see sights for history buffs visiting today.
The precise dates of Multan’s foundation have been lost to the annals of time, but it is known to be one of the subcontinent’s oldest cities. Located in central Pakistan, the city was conquered by Alexander the Great around 326 BC, and residents still claim that the wound Alexander sustained in the battle contributed to his death a couple of years later.
Ancient Macedonia wasn’t the only ancient power to besiege Multan; Hun warriors, Arab generals and Mughal emperors all took swipes at the city.
The English county of Wiltshire is home to a rich array of prehistoric sites, including the iconic Stonehenge. An archaeological dig in 2014 in nearby Amesbury revealed a Mesolithic site with 31,000 flint tools, indicating continuous human activity in the area from as far back as 8820 BC.
The discovery supports the claim that Amesbury is England’s oldest continuously occupied settlement. Visitors can learn about the find in the town’s recently opened History Centre, or head a few miles down the road to visit the world’s most famous stone circle.
Avignon’s beautiful historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, known for its brief role as the seat of the Pope during the 14th century. However, archaeological evidence shows that the area has been inhabited for at least five thousand years. In ancient times, it was a stronghold of the Gallic Cavari tribe before becoming a key Roman settlement.
Visitors can pass through Avignon’s 14th-century city walls to explore the past, including the Palais des Papes, an imposing Gothic fortress that overlooks the Rhône River.
Though its origins go back to the 5th century, Buddhist lore teaches that the sacred city of Anuradhapura grew around a cutting from Buddha’s tree of enlightenment, brought here in the 3rd century. The city thrived as a spiritual and political capital for 1,300 years, but was abandoned in AD 993 after an invasion from southern India.
Now, the ruins attract thousands of visitors each year who come to see the complex’s impressive dagobas (brick stupas) and ancient reservoirs. Some of the city’s historic temples remain working places of worship.
Another of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in the Americas, Cusco (also spelled Cuzco) is the former capital of the far-ranging and formidable Inca Empire. The Inca Empire prospered in ancient Peru from around AD 1400, and examples of their early architecture lie intact beneath the foundations and lower levels of Cusco’s Spanish colonial buildings.
The Spanish may have succeeded the Incas, but Cusco was settled before even the Incas arrived – unearthed fragments of decorated pottery point to human habitation prior to 500 BC.
Continuously inhabited since around 700 BC, Samarkand is a captivating Central Asian city on the old Silk Road. This ancient trade route snaking from China to Europe passed right through the heart of Samarkand, which gained much of its surviving historic architecture between the 14th and 17th centuries.
This includes the Bibi-Khanym Mosque (pictured), constructed for the wife of notorious conqueror Timur (sometimes known as Tamerlane), who declared Samarkand the capital of his empire. He lies entombed in the blue-tiled Gur-e-Amir mausoleum, another of the city’s most important monuments.
Founded by the Phoenicians as early as 1100 BC, Cadiz occupies a slim peninsula on the Andalucian coast. It has passed through the hands of several civilisations since, including the Carthaginians, the Romans and the Moors, who all made their mark on the ancient city.
The ruins of a Roman amphitheatre (pictured) were unearthed in 1980; though only partially excavated, it's the oldest known Roman theatre in Spain. For an even older history hit, head to the Cadiz Archaeological Museum to see two Phoenician sarcophagi from the 5th century.
Georgia’s third-largest city stands on the site of various other settlements that have developed there since the Bronze Age, making it one of the oldest cities in not just the Caucasus, but the world.
Kutaisi served as the capital for a number of historic kingdoms in Georgia, including Colchis, Abkhazia and Imeretia, and the legendary hero Jason is said to have journeyed through the city with his Argonauts. While we can’t promise you’ll find a golden fleece, there are plenty of historic landmarks to discover instead.
Located in northern Afghanistan between the Hindu Kush mountains and the Amu Darya river, Balkh was once called 'the mother of cities' before shrinking to the small town it is today. An important settlement along the Silk Road, Balkh – formerly Bactra – has more than 2,500 years of history under its belt.
Conquered by Alexander the Great in 329 BC and flattened by Genghis Khan in AD 1220, it enjoyed a brief revival under the rule of Timur during the 14th and 15th centuries. The old city walls, battered and broken as they are, remain standing.
Trier, founded in 16 BC by Emperor Augustus, is often recognised as Germany’s oldest city. Once a thriving Roman trading hub, Trier is home to numerous Roman-era treasures. The second-century Porta Nigra is the best-preserved Roman city gate north of the Alps, while the amphitheatre and imperial baths offer a glimpse into the leisure life of its ancient Roman inhabitants.
For a panoramic view of Trier and to explore its rich history, climb to the top of the UNESCO-listed Porta Nigra, a true testament to the city’s Roman past.
The Phoenicians certainly got around – and there’s evidence to suggest they founded a trading post in what is now the Portuguese capital in around 1000 BC. The Carthaginians, Romans, Visigoths and Moors all laid claim to Lisbon (originally called Ulissipo) in the years that followed, as did a range of other tribes that coveted the city’s strategic position.
The Romans chose Sao Jorge, one of the seven hills of Lisbon, as the heart of their settlement. The hill was ultimately marked by the medieval Castelo de Sao Jorge, which still looks over Lisbon today.
Naturally barricaded by mountains, Luoyang was once one of the world's largest cities and was made the Chinese capital by a succession of dynasties. This may even have included the Xia dynasty – China's semi-mythical first ruling dynasty.
It's now around a thousand years since it was last China's capital, but the city remains crucial to Chinese heritage. It was once the starting point of the Silk Road, and historic sites such as the Longmen Grottoes and White Horse Temple still draw huge visitor numbers.
Perched on a hilltop above the Maltese countryside, Mdina has been an established settlement since the Bronze Age, and holds some four thousand years of history within its walls. A former capital shaped by centuries of occupation, the city retains many of its medieval and Baroque elements, including its honey-coloured cathedral.
Nicknamed 'the silent city', today businesses must adhere to strict noise restrictions and cars are severely limited. It is also here that the apostle St Paul is said to have put down roots after being shipwrecked on Malta in AD 60.
During excavations in the 1990s, while Beirut was being rebuilt after the Lebanese Civil War, archaeologists discovered remains from across nearly five thousand years of civilisation. Layers of Canaanite, Phoenician, Hellenistic, Roman and Ottoman culture were revealed beneath the rubble.
More recently, around 640 historic buildings were damaged in the Beirut port explosion in 2020, which killed more than 220 people and displaced around 300,000 more. UNESCO pledged to help restore the city – a process that is still ongoing.
This historic city sits on several old trade routes and has probably been settled since the early 4th millennium. The city has been a prolific producer of Antep pistachios for thousands of years, and is said to be one of the best places in Turkey for baklava.
Gaziantep Castle (seen in the background of this image) was first built as a Roman watchtower between the 2nd and 4th centuries, but was severely damaged in the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that rocked southern Turkey and northern Syria in February 2023.
These are some of the oldest man-made structures on every continent
Arranged along the fabled River Nile, Luxor stands on the site of the city of Thebes, Egypt’s ancient capital. Believed to have been settled by around 3200 BC, Thebes only emerged as a political centre during the 9th and 10th dynasties (2160-2055 BC), before becoming the preferred base of the 11th-dynasty pharaohs.
The city's heritage is still very much alive, and Luxor is often referred to as the world’s greatest open-air museum. Luxor Temple (pictured) and the Karnak temple complex are perhaps the two best sites open to today’s visitors.
Larnaca’s reputation as a popular Mediterranean holiday resort belies its long and fascinating backstory, which spans at least four millennia. The early archaeological remains of Kition (pictured) date the city to around the 13th century, when it was a Mycenaean kingdom.
But if you believe local legend, it was the grandson of Noah (yep, the one with the ark) who built the first settlement here around six thousand years ago. Today, the city is marked by the various cultures that have ruled the island over the years, including the Egyptians, Byzantines, Ottomans and Venetians.
The capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, Erbil is firmly in the running for the title of world's oldest continuously-inhabited city, thanks to archaeological evidence pointing to six thousand years of human occupation. Its oval-shaped Ottoman citadel (pictured) was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014.
Though the structure is fairly new – the hulking walls are 19th century – it was built atop several generations of ruins, which slowly sculpted the man-made hill on which it sits. Under the name Arbela, Erbil was an important centre in the ancient Assyrian Empire.
A former European Capital of Culture, Plovdiv is said to be one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in Europe, if not the oldest. The prehistoric settlement of Nebet Tepe – situated on one of three hills that now comprise the modern city’s old town – is sometimes called 'the birth certificate of Plovdiv', as its origins date back some eight thousand years.
The Iron-Age Thracian peoples built a village here around 1200 BC, which was conquered by Alexander the Great's father in the 340s BC. A few centuries later the Romans moved in, leaving behind an array of stunning ruins, like this beautiful amphitheatre.
The land that came to be known as Athens has been inhabited since the Neolithic era, with wells and pottery found on and around the Acropolis dating back more than five thousand years.
As well as being one of the world's oldest cities, the Greek capital also has some of the world's best-preserved architecture, as seen in sites like the Parthenon and the Propylaea, which have stood largely intact for more than 2,400 years. To protect the ancient citadel from mass tourism, visitors to the Acropolis are now capped at 20,000 per day.
The modern city of Shush partially lies on the site of Susa, one of the world’s most ancient cities. Evidence of habitation goes back to the 5th millennium, and that early community is thought to sit atop an even older settlement dating back to around 7000 BC.
Inscribed by UNESCO in 2015, the ruins of Susa have been shaped by several cultures that have now largely disappeared, including the Elamite, Achaemenid Persian and Parthian peoples. Pictured here are the remnants of a ziggurat (stepped pyramid) and temple complex found in Susa.
Rising from the banks of the River Ganges, Varanasi is one of the seven sacred cities in Hinduism. Legends suggest the city dates back 10,000 years and it is closely associated with the deity Lord Shiva, though contemporary historians believe the city to be between 3,000 and 4,000 years old.
Known as 'the city of death', Varanasi is most famous for its funeral ghats, where some Hindu pilgrims come to be cremated at the end of their lives. If you visit the ancient waterfront while holy ceremonies are taking place, please be respectful.
According to UNESCO, excavations carried out on the outskirts of Damascus show that it's been occupied from as early as 10000 BC, though it wasn't founded in earnest until the 3rd millennium. Some historians therefore consider it the world’s oldest continuously-inhabited city – though this title is debated.
Damascus has witnessed centuries of Islamic development and boasts significant Roman and Byzantine heritage. Due to ongoing unrest in Syria, its ancient capital has been on UNESCO’S List of World Heritage in Danger since 2013.
Widely considered France’s oldest city, Marseille – originally known as Massalia – was founded around 600 BC by Greek settlers from Phocaea (modern-day Turkey). Although later absorbed into the Roman Empire, Massalia remained an important centre of Greek culture and trade in western Europe for centuries.
Today, Marseille is France’s second-largest city and a vibrant Mediterranean destination. One of its top landmarks is the Notre-Dame de la Garde basilica, perched on a hill that once served as a lookout point for sailors, offering panoramic views of the city and sea.
Málaga, one of Spain’s oldest cities, was founded around 770 BC by the Phoenicians, who named it Malaka, likely meaning 'salt' or 'fish salting site', as they used the harbour for preserving fish. Over the centuries, the city came under Carthaginian, Roman, Byzantine and Muslim control, yet the name has remained remarkably consistent.
Much of Málaga’s early history has been built over, including a Phoenician hilltop fortress, which was replaced by Roman structures and later by the Alcazaba, a Moorish fortress-palace constructed in the 11th century. While traces of its Phoenician past are sparse, the city’s layered history can still be explored in its architecture and museums.